Saint Jérôme, le traducteur

Vous ne le savez sans doute pas, mais c'est aujourd'hui la Saint-Jérôme. Saint Jérôme est célèbre pour avoir été l'un des premiers traducteurs de la Bible, qu'il a traduite en latin à partir de l'hébreu, pas du grec. Il est par conséquent le saint patron des traducteurs. Et c'est la raison pour laquelle le 30 septembre est également Le 30 septembre est la Journée internationale de la traduction. J'ai travaillé dans l'industrie, il y a de cela assez longtemps. De nos jours, avec l'intelligence artificielle, je crains que le métier de traducteur soit en voie de disparition. Saint Jérôme semble dormir au gaz.

Geese in the morning

Last Saturday in the morning I had a little moment of pure autumnal bliss. I woke up to the sound of geese flying. A skein of geese. I can recognise their cry anywhere. Well, it could have been ducks, but I think they were geese. Anyway, there's no sound more seasonal in September. It's not autumn without them. So it made my day, or at least my morning, and it got me in a great mood from the moment I got up. Oh how I love this time of year, even when it is too warm.

Autumn Person (in a nutshell)

 I hope you don't mind me blogging so much about autumn, but it is my favourite season and I found this meme a few days ago which I wanted to share. Because this is me, in a nutshell. I love reading like this, on a late September day. And I try to do it every day in the afternoon. Although the temperatures are too warm for September, when evening falls it does get considerably cooler. And the colours are changing. The cozy spot I choose is generally the bed. I keep the windows open and it's blissful.

La tarte aux pommes

Je partage une nouvelle photo de la tarte aux pommes de mes parents, rien que parce que c'est l'automne, c'est septembre, je fais donc dans le partage de photos saisonnières.

Tarte aux pommes

Petit billet de saison et gastronomique à la fois. C'est l'automne, c'est donc le temps des pommes, son fruit le plus emblématique. C'est par conséquent, aussi, le temps de la tarte aux pommes. Je vais faire un aveu: je ne suis pas un fan de la tarte aux pommes. Mais mes parents oui, fa que... Enfin bref, mes parents ont donc cuisiné une tarte aux pommes. Rien que parce que c'est ma saison préférée, j'en aurais pris une pointe. Ma femme a suggéré que si j'en mange, je la préfèrerais avec de la costarde anglaise ou de la crème glacée. Qu'en pensez-vous?

The Equinox At Last!

Today it's finally the autumnal equinox. Or, to be precise, it happened in the little hours of the morning. Read this BBC article for more details. It means that nobody, absolutely nobody, can claim that we are not in autumn now. Even if the weather is too warm, we are in autumn. For me, the season starts with the month, as you know. The first of September should be the benchmark for the beginning of autumn. It is the case, I think, for many people. It is in our psyche, so to speak. That said, the equinox is a special day for all autumn lovers and I always celebrate it on the blog.

The Golden Hour

 Okay, so it's the equinox tomorrow, it's too warm for September, but all the same, I want to say two things as a preamble to this post: 1)I have been enjoying this month tremendously so far and 2)I consider it to be autumn already, because yes, I may sound like a broken record, but autumn starts with the month. Anyway, so here is something I have been focusing on in my autumnal mindfulness: the golden hour, this period of daylights right before sunset. Autumnal evenings are the best evenings. The dimming, warm, soothing lights are simply the best this time of year. So I spend this time of the day/evening reading spooky stuff or just looking at the skies, getting in the atmosphere. Am I the only one having the same feeling this time of year regarding the time right before dusk? Do you enjoy the golden hour?

"Un 22 septembre..."

Bon, paraît que l'équinoxe c'est demain matin, dans les petites heures du matin en fait, mais je m'en fous. Je partage comme à chaque année Le vingt-deux septembre de Georges Brassens, parce que c'est officiellement l'automne pour tout le monde, bon.

Harvest Spirit (September Ale)

As you may know, I love the products of Rebellion Beer, the brewery from Marlow. I love most of their beers, but I particularly enjoy their monthly beers, especially of course during the autumn months. And I got lucky this September, as the monthly special all about my favourite season. It is aptly named Harvest Spirit. It is meant to celebrate the harvest and the season, with a corn doll on its label. It's just the perfect autumn beer.

Autumnal Chronicle

I thought it was time for a new autumnal post, this time a generic post about how autumn is so far. Because yes, it is autumn, because yes, the season starts with September. So here are my observations about autumn here:

• So far, it's not ideal, as it is a tad too warm. Yet, after the ridiculous and never ending heatwaves of summertime, it's still enjoyable. (More on this below.)
• Morning and evenings tend to be cool, so I can wear a light jacket or coat. It's lovely.
• While it's not cold enough yet to wear thick jumpers, at least I have been able to wear long sleeve shirts for the first time in months.
•  Trees have started showing some colours. Not much, but still.
•  There is often a nice, cool breeze that makes even warmer days tolerable.
•  For some mysterious reason, we can often smell bonfire when we step outside.
• The sun goes down earlier. Yeah, I know, it's supposed to, but it's more noticeable and every time the dimming light is just lovely.

So that's my pre-equinox autumn so far, how is yours? I will write more in the upcoming days.

Halloween and a September Memory

I found this meme online, at the beginning of the month. I wanted to share it today before it gets too deep in the month. My wife would agree that this is very me. It also reminded me of an anecdote from my childhood. My brother PJ's birthday is in October. Because of this, we prepared his birthday during the month of September. When we went to the shop to buy decorations and accessories for his birthday party, we often took the opportunity to check and buy Halloween decorations too, as they had starting getting on sales. One Saturday after lunch, around mid-September, before going to the shops, my brothers and I first stopped to talk to my best friend, who lived on the same street as me. I was all enthusiastic about the afternoon's plans, so I told him we were going to go Halloween shopping. My friend looked at me disdainfully and said: "It's way too early for Halloween!" His father had the same disdainful reaction, using the exact same words. I changed the topic, but the conversation felt awkward and my friend remained cold and aloof, borderline rude at times. After a few minutes, we excused ourselves and went shopping. Years later, we ended up growing apart. It's nothing dramatic, it happens to a lot of childhood friends, they rarely all survive teenage and adulthood. But I always suspected that it had started that day. My friend had no interest whatsoever towards my favourite holiday. Fair enough, but he didn't have to be so dismissive about it.

Tarte aux pommes (parce que septembre)

Mon frère PJ a cuisiné une tarte aux pommes il y a peu de temps, "parce que septembre" (je le cite). Je partage la photo ici. La pomme, c'est le fruit de l'automne, c'est le temps des récoltes de pommes, donc c'est le temps de la tarte aux pommes. Je vais faire un aveu: je n'ai jamais été fan. Pour PJ, c'est je crois sa tarte préférée. Moi pas. Oh, je peux en manger! Mais ce n'est pas mon premier choix de dessert. Je ne sais pas trop pourquoi. Cela dit, j'essaie autant comme autant d'apprécier la tarte aux pommes un peu plus.

25 Years of 9/11

In case you haven't noticed, today is the anniversary of 9/11.We tend to forget, what with what is happening in the US or because of the US at the moment, but there you are. Once upon a time, Islamofascism was the greatest threat Western civilisation seemed to have. Nowadays it is still a major threat, mind you, but Christian fundamentalism proved to be at least as dangerous. But I digress. For my memories and thoughts (rambling?) on the subject, read this post from 2008 and that post from 2009. This post from 2024 isn't too bad either. So yes, I commemorate it every year on Vraie Fiction.

First Sign of Halloween

Last Sunday, we went to town. As we were walking on the high street, we saw the window of the local Cancer Research UK shop. And it made me very happy. See for yourself. It's full of pumpkins, leaves, it has a few small Jack O'Lanterns and, well, it's just a great display. The first proper sign of Halloween to come since the beginning of September. I love the attitude: whatever some people may say about autumn starting only with the equinox, the season truly starts with the month of September. And now is not too early for Halloween.

La Fête du Travail

 C'est aujourd'hui la Fête du Travail en Amérique. Je n'ai pas pu profiter de la Fête du Travail (en tout cas pas en septembre) depuis des années. C'est dommage, car un congé férié en septembre, autant dire en automne (oui, oui, septembre c'est l'automne, bon), même d'une seule journée, même un lundi, ben c'est pas mal idéal pour moi. Non seulement on peut profiter du début de la saison, mais ça adoucit un peu le retour au travail (ou à l'école). Bref, si je le pouvais, je l'importerais ici.

Isola in September

 I blogged about it last year, but I thought I would do it again for those like me who like to read seasonally. And who love crime fiction. Anyway, the second novel of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series, The Mugger, is set in September. So it's a very autumnal novel, as well as a neat little suspense. Important recurring characters as introduced, such as Detective Meyer Meyer, Monroe and Monaghan, Fats Donner, also Eileen Burke. And Bert Kling is the main character of this entry, for the very first time. But yeah, for the anecdotal history and for the seasonal readers, it is a crime novel for September. The seasonal is beautifully rendered.

Fauda Very Soon

You know I am a big fan of the Israeli crime/spy/action thriller series Fauda,for many, many reasons. It has gripping drama, it's very realistic, directed soberly, without the budgets of Hollywood, but with a quasi documentary style that makes it feel genuine. It's also full of atmosphere, and as a bonus, Krav Maga is often depicted, which makes it so very cool. Anyway, this post is a reminder, if there are fans of the series among my readers, or if you are curious about it: the new season will start on the 8th of September on Netflix. I cannot stress how good Fauda is.

September 1936 (a crime fiction post)

You may remember that a few months ago, I rewatched The Sting, one of my favourite crime movies and probably my favourite heist film of all time. I'd say it might be the greatest heist film of all time. But I digress. Every time I rewatch an old classic I love, I try to pay attention to things I had not noticed before. I posted about one of these details back in May. Something else struck me on my last viewing: The Sting starts in September 1936. So it's a movie set in autumn. And it struck me that it had a very September, autumnal atmosphere through and through. For those who don't like horror but love crime fiction, this could be a film to watch in autumn.

Blessed September!

It is September at last! So happy September everyone! And happy first day of autumn. Because yes, I don't care what other people say, the season starts with the month, not the equinox. It's my favourite season and it cannot come too early. And as a yearly tradition on this blog, I celebrate the beginning of the month and the start of autumn with this picture of a sort of horn of plenty. My parents made that basket arrangement back in 2008 and took a series of pictures of it. I think it looks perfectly seasonal, with apples and crab apples and homemade jellies. What do you think?

On "holidays" until September

Here's a bit of news about my job, not much to say, but it made me muse a bit. So it has been extremely quiet on the job front during most of summertime, so much so that I have been virtually on annual leave for a third of July and almost the entirety of August. I did not work except for a few meetings here and there. I will get back to work in a week time, on the second of September. Not much to report, you may say, but it means that I will get back to work at the beginning of the school year. In my psyche, September is truly the beginning of the year and the month of new beginning. Far more than January, or indeed any other month. So I find it is fitting that I get back to work in September.